Striker Deepika converted a penalty stroke three minutes from the final hooter to lead India to a tense 3-2 win over South Korea in the women's Asian Champions Trophy hockey match here on Tuesday.
India raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half through goals from Sangita Kumari (3rd minute) and Deepika (20th, 57th) before Korea mounted a strong comeback in the third quarter and drew parity with goals from Yuri Lee (34th) and skipper Eunbi Cheon (38th).
The match headed for an exciting finish with both teams pushing for that deciding goal and it was Deepika who scored from the spot to seal India's second consecutive victory in the tournament.
India had defeated Malaysia 4-0 in their tournament-opener on Monday. The hosts will next play Thailand on Thursday.
In the first match of the day, minnows Thailand held Japan to a 1-1 draw, while reigning Olympic silver medallist China defeated Malaysia 5-0 to register their second consecutive win.
The Indians continued to play attacking hockey from the onset. Their dominance can be gauged by the fact that the Koreans didn't have a single shot at the Indian goal in the first two quarters.
The Indians surged ahead in the third minute through Sangita. Neha Goyal initiated the move and passed it on to Navneet Kaur, who found Sangita inside the circle. The striker beautifully received the ball, sidestepped her marker and then found the back of the net with a fine reverse hit.
India kept up the pressure on the Korean defence and their efforts bore fruit in the 20th minute when Deepika slammed one home from close range from Beauty Dung Dung's pass from the right flank.
Korea came out all guns blazing after the change of ends and secured back-to-back penalty corners in the 34th minute and Lee pulled one back for her side from a rebound.
Motivated by the goal, the Koreans put pressure on the Indian defence and four minutes later secured a penalty stroke. Skipper Cheon stepped up and made no mistake to level the scores.
The Indians then mounted raids after raids on the Korean citadel and got a chance in the 57th minute in the form of a penalty stroke, which Deepika converted with ease.
